We will be celebrating Read Across America Day on Friday, March 1st with lots of fun activities.  Please have your child send in any Dr. Seuss books he/she has at home on Friday (make sure their name is somewhere on the book).   (Students will take their books home at the end of the day on Friday.)  Also, in celebration of Dr. Seuss and Read Across America, Friday will be a day for students to dress “wacky” in honor of Dr. Seuss’ book “Wacky Wednesday.”   We will also be having Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast, reading Dr. Seuss books, and more! 

In class, we recently learned about hibernating animals.  The children collaborated  in small groups to research different animals, take notes, organize their information, and create a project to present to the class.  Four groups used shoe boxes to create dioramas for their animals.  They worked together to build a 3D display of their animal’s habitat inside the shoe box.  The children used paper, cotton balls, styrofoam balls, real grass, etc. to make their animals, their food, and their habitats.   They also wrote short reports that included the information from their research.  Two other groups created Voice Threads which are digital presentations of the information the children researched.   The children were very excited about  learning about hibernating animals and creating their presentations, and they had an opportunity to share their dioramas, reports, and Voice Threads with their classmates today.   I’ve shared the links for the Voice Threads, but you need to sign in to see them. “Bears” – Login: aenkey@wcpss.net and password: turtles “Foxes” – Login: larbour@wcpss.net and password: turtles

Enjoy! 

Bears

Foxes

GHE Spring Carnival will be held Friday March 22^nd  from 5:00-8:30pm.

Get Ready for the GHE Spring Carnival – Friday, March 22^nd from 5-8:30!  This is a great family fun event that is also one of the most important fund raisers for GHE.  Look for updates in the Friday Falcon and emails from our Room Parents in the coming weeks.  If you have any questions, please email the Carnival Co-Chairs – Jill Denbow at Jill.Denbow@nc.rr.com or Ursula Wissink Flynn at wissinkflynn@online.nl.

If you are planning on joining your child for lunch tomorrow (Monday, December 10th), please note that we will be eating lunch from 12:00-12:30 p.m instead of from 11:30-12:00 noon due to the Annual GHE Holiday Chorus Performance. 

Please mark your calendars for the following dates:

Nov. 26 -Dec. 5:     Book Fair

November 28:     8-9am Donuts With Dad Last Names A-H
November 29:     8-9am Donuts With Dad Last Names I-N

November 30:     8-9am Donuts With Dad Last Names O-Z

December 3:     6:15-8pm Story Book Night (Note the New Date!)

December 19:     2:30-3:30 pm Gingerbread House Fun!  All are welcome ~ Please join us!  (Look for more info in this week’s Friday Folder)

December 21:     1:15 pm – Early Release 

December 24, 2012- January 1, 2013:     Holiday Break

Just a quick reminder that Picture Retake Day is TOMORROW, November 15th, 2012.

For your convenience, I have uploaded the 1st Grade Word List, which includes all weekly Word Wall Words, Word Family Words, and Challenge Words, to the “Pages” section of our classroom blog.

Picture Re-Takes:   Picture Retake Day will be Thursday, November 15th.  For those students who wish to take/retake their Fall photos, the Picture Forms are  in the Front Office.  Please remember to return your old pictures at that time.  Thanks!

No School:  There will be no school on the following days:

• Tuesday, November 6th – Teacher Work Day
• Monday, November 12th – Veteran’s Day
• Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, November 21st, 22nd, 23rd – Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall Fun:  This past Tuesday, we worked on estimation skills by estimating the number of seeds inside of a pumpkin.  After we cut open the pumpkin, the children were given the opportunity to look inside and help remove the “guts” of the pumpkin.  We then collected all of the seeds and I took them home to wash, count, and roast them.  Tomorrow, the children will check their estimations to the actual number of seeds in the pumpkin and have the opportunity to try (taste) roasted pumpkin seeds and apple cider.  (If your child is allergic to either pumpkin seeds or apple cider, please let me know.)

Pursuant to a parent’s request for ways to challenge your children’s math skills, I have added a new link to the “Friends and Links” section of my blog, “Superstars Math“, which will give all of you a chance to provide your children with math exercises that they can do at home and you can check if you are looking for ways to challenge your children with math problems beyond the ones we already do in class.